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Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

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Re: Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

#522
post #462
post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd like her to justify: - in what way her accusation is not the moral equivalent of a false rape claim - why it is alright to publish the photo of two people with non-verifiable accusations on a public site, before any form of trial or hard facts have been provided

Rape is a very serious criminal offence. Rape, in the UK, carries a 5 years as a minimum starting sentence, increasing if there are any aggravating factors. Her behaviour - tweeting a photo of a bunch of people and accusing some of those people of sexual harassment - is unacceptable, but let's not make ridiculous comments comparing it to false rape allegations.

My point has nothing to do with the crime of rape, it has to do with the (reverse) crime of falsely accusing of rape, and in this case, I don't think there really is much of a moral difference:

- the guy was accused of sexual harassment, which is something very much taken seriously here, where society tends to protect the women (rightly so) without much listening to the other party... & therefore a false accusation of rape is something very serious since guys often can't do much to counter it

- in this case the guys are publicly shamed without even having had the opportunity to explain themselves, & one even got fired

so I stand by my comment: I do not liken the attack (from the men) to a rape, I liken the attack (from the woman) to a false rape accusation, in that she falsely accused men of doing something that is vile & for which she has almost every chance to win if the other side is not listened to

false rape allegations have people sent to jail & publicly fired, false sexual harrassment allegations should also be seen very seriously since they are often non-verifiable & lead to some guy losing his work (which is serious)

Re: Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

#523

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure they are to the same extent his employer is since her posse made sure they fired him. She is a horrific bully who has destroyed an innocent person's career to advance her own personal publicity and branding. She's a bad person. I would never hire her or have anything to do with her or anyone who defends her insane, horrific and unethical actions. I also will have nothing to do with PyCon henceforth. They have ma…

she did not destroy anyone's career; he made an off color comment at a tech conference, someone reported that he did so, and his employer made a decision to fire him because of how it reflected on their company. had he not said it, she'd have nothing to report; had his employer not agreed that it was inconsistent with the public image they wish to present, they would not have fired him.

Actually, not quite factually true. She did not "report" it. She used her significant media presence to shame someone with vague allusions. The right thing to do would have been for his company to get his side of the story (which we see above) and make a public statement, not to fire him over pitchforks and torches at the gates.

Re: Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

#524
post #23

Hi, I'm the guy who made a comment about big dongles. First of all I'd like to say I'm sorry. I really did not mean to offend anyone and I really do regret the comment and how it made Adria feel. She had every right to report me to staff, and I defend her position. However, there is another side to this story. While I did make a big dongle joke about a fictional piece hardware that identified as male, no sexual jokes…

Hey, Thanks for speaking up, contributing your viewpoint on HN and not attacking me. I'm sorry to hear your employer deciding to not to work with you on this and I hope they reconsider, bring you back on and dealing with it constructively. For context, I'm a developer evangelist. That means I'm an advocate for developers, male and female. While I hear abou demanding bosses with impossible deadlines for product launch…

Adria, in all this please take one thing from me. Please do not use the term "trigger" for things that make you angry or uncomfortable or sad. Triggers are powerful psychological events, things that make people near-catatonic, unable to act, have physical and psychological repercussions. A rape survivor, a soldier or police officer or survivor of domestic abuse won't smile, snap a picture, and use their significant power to shame someone if "triggered". Quite in the contrary. Your use of the word sets the stage for people to presume that someone who has a trigger could have "discussed it out" as you could have done. And that is demeaning and dangerous to everyone who really has psychological triggers.

Re: Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

#525

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure they are to the same extent his employer is since her posse made sure they fired him. She is a horrific bully who has destroyed an innocent person's career to advance her own personal publicity and branding. She's a bad person. I would never hire her or have anything to do with her or anyone who defends her insane, horrific and unethical actions. I also will have nothing to do with PyCon henceforth. They have ma…

she did not destroy anyone's career; he made an off color comment at a tech conference, someone reported that he did so, and his employer made a decision to fire him because of how it reflected on their company. had he not said it, she'd have nothing to report; had his employer not agreed that it was inconsistent with the public image they wish to present, they would not have fired him.

If you're going to base your whole argument just on the actions of the companies involved, I think you'll run into a pickle when you incorporate the fact that she was just fired herself over her actions.

Back up your opinion with self-sufficient evidence and justification. It does not suffice to just point at what others have done.

Re: Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

#526

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company she works for is SendGrid, if random redditors discussing this are to be trusted.

That is not what he was asking. SendGrid is not a party to this issue.

Yes they are. The same way the guys were representing their company, she was representing SendGrid at the conference. You can't be an "Evangelist" at a tech conference and pretend your actions don't represent your company as well.

Re: Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

#527
post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why can't you just turn around and say one of the following: Shhhhh. Take it outside. You're not funny, and I can't hear the talk. I'm going to call the conference police if you don't quiet yourselves. Or something to that effect? If somebody persists after you ask them to quit, fine, blast away.

The guy apologized, and everyone was satisfied at that point. No idea why PlayHaven fired him but that wasn't something she asked for.

PlayHaven only fired their employee due to the public exposure this all received, which started with Adria's tweet.

Re: Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

#528

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree up to the point where you say 'Inappropriate? Sure, I'll grant Adria that.' It feels as if you're giving her argument an inch just so it isn't 100% opposed. A conciliatory prize. Frankly it's not innappropriate. It's a nothing. A completely irrelevant non-sequitor that is neither against rules or genders.

> Sexual language and imagery is not appropriate for any conference venue, including talks. [1] The CoC was pretty clear to refrain from offensive language, swearing, and the like. Thus, it was inappropriate by the conference's standards. [1]: https://us.pycon.org/2013/about/code-of-conduct/

I'm not offended by what he said. Did he even swear?

Re: Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

#529

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure they are to the same extent his employer is since her posse made sure they fired him. She is a horrific bully who has destroyed an innocent person's career to advance her own personal publicity and branding. She's a bad person. I would never hire her or have anything to do with her or anyone who defends her insane, horrific and unethical actions. I also will have nothing to do with PyCon henceforth. They have ma…

she did not destroy anyone's career; he made an off color comment at a tech conference, someone reported that he did so, and his employer made a decision to fire him because of how it reflected on their company. had he not said it, she'd have nothing to report; had his employer not agreed that it was inconsistent with the public image they wish to present, they would not have fired him.

Remind me to think twice before I ever say anything again, in any setting.

And welcome to the Police State!

Re: Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

#530

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is not what he was asking. SendGrid is not a party to this issue.

Sure they are to the same extent his employer is since her posse made sure they fired him. She is a horrific bully who has destroyed an innocent person's career to advance her own personal publicity and branding. She's a bad person. I would never hire her or have anything to do with her or anyone who defends her insane, horrific and unethical actions. I also will have nothing to do with PyCon henceforth. They have ma…

PyCon US's response to this incident was measured and appropriate - please don't tar them with such a brush.

http://pycon.blogspot.com/2013/03/pycon-response-to-inapprop...

Key phrase: "No individuals were removed from the conference, no sanctions were levied."

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